Stone Soup Station

Being Foreclosed Upon? STAY IN YOUR HOME ANYWAY!!!

2009-11-04T06:04:00.001-06:00

Finally, a politician with some bal....errrr, ovaries!

Huge thanks to Metis Rebel, my dear friend over at Homeless Tales, for this piece.

Reminds me of Cheri Honkala's stategy, with a little more authority thrown in!

To those of you facing foreclosure on your home, the first thing to do is to take the bank to court and force them to produce the documents! Then, I'd simply stay put until they came to toss me; given the actions - or lack thereof - of some local sheriffs, it might be a while before that actually happens anyway!

"This is an incredible opportunity, and hundreds of people are going to come to you with great hopes and expectations, and unfortunately you're going to have to turn down 95 percent of them,"

2009-11-02T05:32:00.000-06:00

Bill Sinclair is exactly right. I'm happy to report however that as I understand it, so far Operation Stand Down has assisted more folks w the stimulus HPRP money than any other agency so far.

Even so, we've turned down many many more than we've assisted, simply because the grant requirements are very stringent and many peeps simply don't qualify based on the parameters of the grant.

Nonetheless, I can tell you that the relief and joy I've felt for the families we've been able to help can barely be described. Not a day goes by where I don't have someone break down and cry in my office because they're at wit's end and don't know where to turn. When we say "we can help," the relief is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

It's what gets me up and headed to work with a smile on my face every morning. It doesn't get much better than that....

November 2, 2009

Stimulus helps Nashville's nearly, newly homeless get help

$20.3 million for Tennessee pays short-term costs

Zeana Dick, 10, plays with her puppy. The Dick family, which is preparing to move from a campground into a mobile home, does not qualify for the new homelessness prevention program. SHELLEY MAYS / THE TENNESSEAN
By Bonna Johnson
THE TENNESSEAN
The mother of five was at wits' end. Her husband had lost his job, their lease-to-purchase house was foreclosed on and she had only one completed sale all year as a real estate agent.

"Lord, what am I going to do?" Yolanda Smith thought as she desperately tried to find a cheaper rental home and figure out how to pay the security deposits.

Her prayers were answered last week when a landlord agreed to lower the rent on a home in their neighborhood. Relocating nearby would mean their sons wouldn't have to change schools.
As for paying deposits — upwards of $1,000 — a new federal stimulus program is helping.

"I always have faith God will take care of us and provide a miracle — I just didn't know what avenue he would take," Smith said. "This was a light at the end of our tunnel."

The month-old stimulus program will bring $20.3 million to Tennessee to give short-term assistance to those on the verge of homelessness and help the newly homeless rapidly get back into housing in the midst of the economic crisis.

Nashville's $3.1 million share should end up helping about 300 families and 200 individuals, said Sara Hylton, coordinator for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.
Statewide, some 2,500 households, representing about 5,200 people, will get rental help, said Steve Meinbresse, program administrator at the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

The program fills a niche for those who aren't a good fit for other government housing programs, like tax credits or subsidized housing, but are in crisis and need help paying for a place to live.

It won't cover mortgage payments, but it will pay for rent and utility deposits, moving costs, motel vouchers, and rent and utility payments for three months to a year, housing officials said.

There is an income limit, and families must show they can take over paying the rent and utilities once their stimulus money runs out.

"There is pent-up demand, but it won't be available or appropriate for everyone," Meinbresse said.
Those eligible include families who need a new place to stay after a home foreclosure, families running out of unemployment benefits, or someone coping with a big medical bill that is making it difficult to pay rent or utilities temporarily.

Families also might need help if the breadwinner lost a job or had work hours reduced, Meinbresse said.

"This is a bridge to help them maintain existing housing," Meinbresse said. "And for those who are literally homeless due to the economic crisis, this will help get them into an apartment."

Case managers will work with families to help them with budgeting, applying for other benefits and job coaching, Hylton said.

Resources are limited
The downside, said Bill Sinclair, executive director of Catholic Charities, is that the need will greatly outstrip the resources.

"This is an incredible opportunity, and hundreds of people are going to come to you with great hopes and expectations, and unfortunately you're going to have to turn down 95 percent of them," Sinclair said.

Catholic Charities expects to get 500 applications but has enough funding to pay rent for only 36 families for six months each over the next two years. It has a $363,000 grant to help carry out the program.

"I'm thrilled we'll be able to make a difference in their lives, but how many people will we disappoint?" he said.

Nine other agencies in Nashville are helping carry out the program: Salvation Army, Safe Haven, Operation Stand Down, YWCA, Woodbine Community Organization, Nashville CARES, Renewal House, Oasis Center and Campus for Human Development.

Those who will get priority help include families with young children, victims of family violence, ex-offenders and youths who are too old for foster care.

"I could have ended up homeless without this help," said Patricia Brooks, an ex-offender in Gallatin.

She had nothing in savings to pay a $200 security deposit on an apartment or a $40 application fee. But the part-time school custodian also knew she had overstayed her welcome at her mother's home.

Brooks, 49, is so happy in her new apartment that she's thinking about throwing a housewarming party.

"I go where God has promised. I trust and believe," said Brooks, noting that stimulus funds also helped pay off an outstanding electricity bill balance.

Most won't quality
The stimulus funds, however, are very narrowly targeted, so some people who might seem likely to get help won't. For instance, the program is not for the chronic homeless, which means that many residents of Nashville's tent city probably won't be covered.

As for the income limit, set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, households that earn more than 50 percent of the area's median income don't qualify. That is $32,450 a year in Davidson County.

The limit is the only thing keeping Stephanie Dick, 31, and her family from applying. She, her husband and two school-age children have been living in a pop-up camper at a Wilson County campground.

They were kicked out of a rental house in Clarksville in early October and haven't been able to save up for a new apartment because of a string of bad luck with vehicle repairs, Dick said.

Her husband, a U.S. Navy Reservist who works in Smyrna, makes a few thousand dollars above the $30,077 income threshold in Wilson County.

"We'd be able to pay our bills once we got in a place," Dick said, "but we don't have money for deposits and (the) first month's rent." They also have some outstanding utility bills they haven't paid yet.

After a few weeks of living in a cramped camper — and with winter looming — they're set to move into a mobile home at a nearby trailer park, Dick said. Her mom took out a loan to help.

As for the seven-member Smith family, downsizing from a four-bedroom home in the Cane Ridge neighborhood to one with three bedrooms will be a tight fit but more affordable.

"It's been a blessing," said Yolanda Smith, whose husband, a veteran, got into the stimulus program through Operation Stand Down. "Otherwise, I don't know what we would have done."

Additional Facts

"do what our hearts tell us to do, when our hearts tell us to do it."

2009-11-01T06:16:00.002-06:00

An upcoming fundraiser for Operation Stand Down Nashville thanks completely to the Nashboro Village Family dental Clinic! Hope to see you there!

Nashboro Village Family Dental to Present First Annual Super Talent and
All-Star Show

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday, November 21, 2009
Nashboro Village Family Dental will present our First Annual Super Talent and
All-Star Show.  Hosted by Lelan Statom, WTVF, NewsChannel 5, this event will
benefit Operation Stand Down and one of our patients that is battling chronic
childhood cancer.  The show will feature amateur talent representing the
various affiliates of Heartland Dental Care and our All-Stars, along with top
professionals from the Nashville music community in the genres of gospel,
blues, R & B, jazz and country.

                                All-Star performances by
                                     Tim Dillinger
                                    Kenneth Duncan
                                      Kate Taylor
                    The Nashville Storm Dancers and Jr. Cheerleaders

"I'm thrilled to produce a show with such a diverse group of artists and
talent for such a worthy cause," said Regina Edmondson-Wilson, Show
Producer/Director.  "This is so rare and exciting!  The strength of
Nashville's music community is enormous."

Proceeds will be given to one local charity (Operation Stand Down) and a local
child undergoing cancer treatment.

Operation Stand Down (OSD) diligently serves our veterans and homeless
population by providing housing, food, education, and other social services. 
A United Way Partner Agency, it operates programs that train and support
veterans to help them merge back into the community as responsible and
contributing citizens.  If you would like more information on Operation Stand
Down, its mission, goals, and services, please go to www.osdnashville.org.

"We appreciate the support of our service men, women and their families and
are proud to contribute the proceeds from this fabulous show to Operation
Stand Down to support its commitment to help honorably discharged veterans who
face homelessness after service to our country," said Sharon Hill, Event
Coordinator.  "We are also pleased to support one of our young patients with a
portion of the proceeds to help her in her struggle to defeat cancer."

The other recipient is two-year-old Emma Taylor.  She is currently undergoing
chemotherapy treatment at Vanderbilt Children Hospital for a rare form of
cancer that has spread to her kidney and lymph nodes.  Through all of this,
Emma continues to burst with vibrancy and is especially happy when playing
with her dolls, watching her favorite Disney video "The Jungle Book," or
dancing to music.

The show will be held Saturday, November 21, 2009, at 4:00 PM at the Mt. Zion
Baptist Church (Antioch), Murfreesboro Road.  Tickets are $20.00 for adults
and $10.00 for children 12 and under.  For fans, an autograph session will be
held immediately after the show.

For more information or tickets, please contact the Sharon Hill, Event
Coordinator at 615.360.7585

Nashboro Village Family Dental Care, under the auspices of Dr. Melvin and Mrs.
Sharon Hill and Dr. Soo Sims, has always believed in giving to those in need. 
Whether through their professional dental practice or personal contributions,
the practice team has always held true to the principle to "do what our hearts
tell us to do, when our hearts tell us to do it." (Lifestories, The Nashville
Tennessean - March, 11, 2001)

Since arriving in Nashville in 1985, the practice has participated in services
such as the "Give Kids a Smile" national program, Nashville Cares, food
drives, mentoring programs at the Bethlehem Center, Katrina clothing and
dental care drive, as well as giving free dental services, partials and
prosthetics to persons without dental insurance. Mrs. Hill also donated a
kidney without hesitation to someone in need.

The office is dedicated to professional, state-of-the-art care for their
patients which translate into compassionate, committed, patient satisfaction.

"I love practicing dentistry," said Dr. Hill.  "My favorite thing about it is
having the ability to change peoples' lives by improving their perceptions of
themselves."

Nashboro Village Family Dental Care is located at 2270 Murfreesboro Pike in
Nashville.  For more information, visit their website at
www.nashborovillagedental.com or call the practice at 615.360.7585

This dental practice is a member of the Heartland Dental Care family of
practices.  Heartland Dental Care, Inc. is one of the leading dental practice
management groups in the United States with approximately 250 dental practices
located within 14 states (including Tennessee and Kentucky). Based in
Effingham, Ill., Heartland provides its dentists and team members with
continuing professional education and leadership training along with a variety
of management services which include staffing, human relations, purchasing,
administration, financial, marketing and information technology support. For
more information, visit www.HeartlandDentalCare.com.

    Contacts:
    Regina Edmondson-Wilson, Show Producer, 615.226.6117
    Sharon Hill, Event Coordinator, 615.360.7585

"There is a message ringing loud and clear from Tent City. We should all look closer and listen."

2009-10-31T09:17:00.001-05:00

Bob nails it - "unmet needs." Like decent jobs with livable wages ($10+ an hour in Nashville, according to Dr. Melissa Snarr from Vanderbilt), quality education that is easily accessible, drug and alcohol treatment, expunging of criminal records filled with "quality of life" citations, and most importantly, AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

I've been saying if for years here now; it's a matter of priorities and people are going to do what they need to do in order to survive. Folks are going to meet their unmet needs, either by traditional means or, when pushed to the wall, by any means necessary, and complaints and/or threats by government officials, police officers, property owners or private citizens aren't going to make one whit of difference to those who are barely surviving in the first place.....

Tent City's 'unheard' message is being heard

Bob Jackson
Tennessee Voices

Tent City is viewed by different people in different ways.

In a recent article, Metro Police Commander Damian Huggins called Nashville's Tent City a threat, saying it represents "safety concerns and an increase in downtown crime."

Conversely, in the same article, a homeless advocate viewed it as an alternative to living on the streets and as a default means of getting needed help.

Looking at the crude structures of Tent City, it's easy to get caught up in the obvious visual problems and not realize there is an important underlying message that begs to be heard.

That message is "help me."

While Tent City is a community of homeless, each person has become homeless for their own specific reason. They need individual help, not a one-size-fits-all solution.

An article in The Tennessean Oct. 6, "Some find new home" mentioned a person who had an apartment but gave it up to move back into Tent City. Why? His apartment was lonely.

The message of Tent City has more to do with unmet needs. Many psychologists, like Abraham Maslow, will agree humans are driven by needs. People will do whatever it takes to meet those needs, even live in makeshift structures in places like Tent City; where their need for food, shelter, protection and possibly in some strange way, self-esteem, are being met.

In Maslow's hierarchy, what's possibly not met in Tent City is self-actualization. There is only so high you can go when living on the outskirts of society.

I have been working with the homeless since 1992, and during that time I have heard the stories of hundreds of homeless men and women. I understand the message of Tent City, and I hope you will begin to understand it, too.

I am the director of Matthew 25, a program providing emergency shelter, transitional housing and support services to homeless men since 1986. We have provided this aid by identifying and addressing their individual needs. When those needs are addressed, the "whys" are answered and the solutions become those of the homeless and not society's.

We've experienced this at Matthew 25 since we opened our doors in 1986 to help eight men. We now provide emergency shelter and transitional housing for 50 men. We also sublease permanent housing to program graduates at several apartments throughout the city.

There is a message ringing loud and clear from Tent City. We should all look closer and listen.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier, who ordered Pedreiras removed from his position as a Hillside police officer

2009-10-30T06:20:00.000-05:00

I'll just bet this cop was one of those rotten sobs who treat the homeless like poo on a shoe, too.

By the way, I know homeless folks who've gotten more time for public intoxication....

Another scumbag bites the dust. Score one for ethics.

Former Hillside cop is sentenced for stealing $15K from state homeless fund

By James Queally/The Star-Ledger

October 29, 2009, 8:26PM

HILLSIDE -- A former Hillside police officer was sentenced to just under a year in jail today for his role in stealing funds from the state’s Homelessness Prevention fund, authorities said.

Vitor "Victor" Pedreiras, 32, of Hillside, was sentenced to 364 days in jail and two years probation for falsely submitting applications for grants from the state-funded program that totaled $14,963, Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni said in a press release. Pedreiras’ girlfriend, Joana Pereria, 27, of Newark, pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2007, and will be sentenced Nov. 5.

The sentence was handed down in Trenton by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier, who ordered Pedreiras removed from his position as a Hillside police officer and barred from public employment following his guilty plea to theft charges on August 5. The couple was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of the falsely obtained funds.

According to Gramiccioni, the Homelessness Prevention Program is designed to provide individuals and families in danger of becoming homeless with two months’ rent and a security deposit for a new residence if they are forced out of their homes.

An August 2007 indictment claimed Pedreiras helped his girlfriend, a landlord at the time, submit four false applications to the program that named either an acquaintance, 36-year-old Tashime Mitchell of Irvington, a fictitious person or one of Pedreiras’ relatives as a tenant of the couple. Mitchell pleaded guilty to bribery charges in November of 2006 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

"I know we're not going to agree to limit the population right now,"

2009-10-30T06:12:00.001-05:00

You can't move folks until you've got another place to put them, period.

As for the camp, it's been a full year now and literally nothing has changed on the "government" side of the coin regarding the formal sanctioning of this, or the proposed "new and improved" camp officials were hoping to create. While Doug Sanders and company continue forward progress on procuring the land and laying out campsites, work continues by residents and advocates on the spruce-up: gravel has been laid, tents are now usually quickly available, people and critters are cared for and the camp continues its course towards self governance and "neighborhood" status.

Unfortunately, It's disheartening to me to know that while concerned citizens and advocates pour blood, sweat, tears and money into the camp to increase the standard of living for the folks there, threat of closure hangs over the camp like a toxic smoke.

And by the way, I've got to add here that the continual requests for lists by Metro, while I understand their rationale, seems to be a direct infringement of civil rights, since a police officer would never approach an apartment complex or neighborhood and request the same info from every resident and/or visitor in said neighborhood.

For now - and hopefully through this winter - folks should be able to live in quiet peace at the camp and that is all they wanted all along anyway.....

Nashville wants to help homeless, then close Tent City camp

Everyone involved — police, advocates for the homeless, Metro Homelessness Commission members, even the homeless themselves — agrees that Tent City has to close.

But no one knows when the camp on the Cumberland River bank downtown will stop being a home for those with nowhere else to go, or nowhere else they want to go to.

Metro Police Cmdr. Damian Huggins told the homelessness commission earlier this month that it's time to put a limit on the number of people living in Tent City and move toward shutting it down.

But since then, things appear to have changed.

* A year at Tent City

"I know we're not going to agree to limit the population right now," Huggins said at Wednesday's homelessness commission meeting.

"I don't want to shut a place down and send someone away without getting help. This is something we need to phase out because we are impacting lives."

Huggins still wants to start a register of people living at the camp.

Metro Police Lt. Nikki Swisher and Huggins said basic information, such as name, age, sex and race, would be included on the register.
Advocates are leery of list

Some advocates said they feared that such a list could be used to restrict services.

Huggins said that is not his intent.

"My hope is to grow a database and share information with groups to coordinate who is receiving services," he said.

"I don't want Social Security numbers, and I don't want any medical history. I just want names to keep track of who is where and who's helping who."

Tent City council members said they don't object to the list as long as it didn't restrict services.

In the past few months, the council — made up of people who live at the camp — has formed a list of rules and regulations to make it a more organized community.

At Wednesday's meeting, they said they hoped to get help from the police in enforcing those rules and keeping troublemakers away from the camp.
Plan includes campsites

Doug Sanders, associate minister of Otter Creek Church in Brentwood and a homeless advocate, took the organization of Tent City a step further, presenting detailed site plans drawn by volunteer civil engineers.

The preliminary plans showed 117 campsites within the 2.41-acre site, but Sanders said that number would be lower.

Jeannie Alexander, a homeless outreach advocate with Park Center, said a survey of residents at Tent City earlier this month showed the population hovering around 50.

Sanders said he hoped to begin moving residents within the next 30 days.

Though Huggins and other central precinct officers had visited Tent City and posted no- trespassing signs on private property surrounding the camp, he said police would not be enforcing the no-trespassing laws until the homelessness commission agreed to do so.

"And yet at the end of Dwite's day, he still died a homeless, familyless man,"

2009-10-29T06:33:00.001-05:00

Father Charlie makes the Washington Times and I'm pleasantly shocked, shocked I say, to see something like this in this particular paper. If you follow the political leanings of various papers, you'll know immediately why.

In any event, it's wonderful to see Charlie quoted so heavily, especially in such a critically important area.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Deaths of homeless inspire soul-searching

Bobby Ross Jr. THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EDMOND, Okla. | Sunlight through a tall stained-glass window reflects off a donated casket as 350 people came to pay tribute to Dwite Morgan's 54 years on earth.

To hear First Christian Church senior pastor Chris Shorow tell it, Mr. Morgan was a fixture in this affluent Oklahoma City suburb -- a man with a life worth celebrating ... even if he was homeless and frequented the church's free-breakfast program.

Better known in this community of 80,000 as "Bicycle Bob," Mr. Morgan spent much of the last 25 years sleeping under the stars -- the same place where police found him stabbed and beaten to death Oct. 18.

Across the nation, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of homeless people whose faces and names are well-known to church leaders -- yet those people, like Mr. Morgan, remain on the streets.

"The church is like a billboard, advertising compassion and loving service. So often, they are the ones whose doorbells ring for help," said Charles Strobel, founding director of Room in the Inn, a Nashville, Tenn., program that feeds and houses the homeless in churches and synagogues during the winter.

"Most of the time, if help is given, it's direct emergency services of food, clothing, perhaps shelter and some transportation," said Mr. Strobel, a former Catholic priest.

However, many churches and religious groups seem less eager to confront the more difficult challenge, he said: Social action to bring about real changes and create affordable housing for the poor.

"Until those changes occur," Mr. Strobel said, "people remain on the streets, even to the point of becoming a familiar part of the church family."

A similar situation confronted Jeannette Smith, 66, a homeless woman who slept outside an Atlanta church for more than a year -- the same place where police found her fatally shot Oct. 12.

The West End Church of Christ in Atlanta helped organize a funeral service and offered a $1,000 reward for information about Ms. Smith's death.

"She didn't bother anybody, just kept to herself," church secretary Gayron Johnson said of Ms. Smith, who went from church to church for more than four years and kept her blankets and sparse belongings in a buggy the size of a grocery cart. "What I saw in her was a meek and quiet spirit."

Members at the West End church frequently gave Ms. Smith food and money and encouraged her to go to a shelter, but she wouldn't do it, Mrs. Johnson said. Ms. Smith preferred to sleep on her own. She told members that people were mean to her at the shelter.

"We all wanted to see her off the street and somewhere warm and inside," Mrs. Johnson said. "But she'd be right there the next morning when I came to the church."

But advocates for the homeless say no one really chooses to live on the streets.

Typically, those homeless for more than a year suffer from an untreated mental illness, a substance-abuse problem or a combination of the two, said Neil Donovan, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington.

A homeless man who "chooses" to live on the street may really be saying that he's addicted to drinking and can't accept another living arrangement if he can't have his booze, Mr. Donovan said. Or a homeless woman who refuses to go to a shelter may be saying that she got robbed, raped or assaulted there and is afraid to go back.

In a number of cities, a "housing first" approach to caring for the homeless has seen positive results in recent years, Mr. Donovan said.

Rather than ask a homeless person to get clean and sober -- or receive mental health treatment -- before receiving a permanent home, this approach offers housing first and deals with the underlying personal issues later.

"What we have found is, if you're interested in getting someone to leave homelessness, then you have to do it on their terms," said Sam Tsemberis, founder of Pathways to Housing, which has helped find homes for more than 1,000 chronically homeless people in New York, Philadelphia and Washington.

"It's a slow road to recovery, but it's a quick road to ending homelessness," Mr. Tsemberis said of finding homes first and dealing with the mental health and substance-abuse issues afterward.

Earlier this month, a study released by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles indicated that the city could save $20,000 a year per homeless person by placing those on the streets into permanent supportive housing.

University of Southern California researchers studied the costs of caring for four Los Angeles men before and after they got homes. Expenses calculated included emergency-room visits, jail time, alcohol- and drug-abuse services and mental health treatment.

Here in Edmond, at Mr. Morgan's funeral, a well-dressed congregation -- most of whom did not know the real name of "Bicycle Bob" -- sang "Amazing Grace." Women dabbed their eyes with tissues. A few autumn-colored floral arrangements and a battered, beige bicycle painted a picture few had studied for long until this day.

In the days since Mr. Morgan's death, his life circumstances and violent death have prompted a mix of sadness and self-awareness in a suburban community known for its super-sized churches, grocery stores and youth sports complexes.

Church and community leaders paint a portrait of a friendly, mentally ill man who liked riding his bike all over town and sleeping outdoors -- from a chicken coop at his late grandmother's house to an alley behind a feed and garden store where his body was found.

"I bought him a meal or two, a few cups of coffee. I like to think I did my part," said David Hartman, one of hundreds of residents who helped Mr. Morgan in one way or another.

"And yet at the end of Dwite's day, he still died a homeless, familyless man," Mr. Hartman added. "Lots of people did something. No one did enough."

One juror sobbed so hard that she had to compose herself before affirming her guilty verdict to the judge.

2009-10-28T07:07:00.000-05:00

My initial reaction? "Goodbye to bad rubbish."

Yeah, he's just a kid and he's gonna regret for a lifetime what he did that night. It's a helluva price to pay, no doubt about it, but here's the deal; we as a society ought to lock folks up and throw away the key when a crime of violence is committed. Period.

If we don't as a society ensure people are punished severely for perpetrating violent acts upon others, we're failing in our duty to provide protection to our citizens.

So while this child has just learned one hard damned lesson, I'm hoping that hundreds - maybe thousands - of other kids who thought beating homeless folks was a sport will now realize they could spend the rest of their lives in prison for attacking a human being.....

Posted: Oct. 28, 2009

Emotional jury convicts teen of killing 2 homeless men

BY L.L. BRASIER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Thomas McCloud

Jurors, some weeping, convicted a 15-year-old Pontiac boy of two counts of first-degree felony murder Tuesday in the stomping deaths of two homeless men.

Thomas McCloud slumped in his chair and put his face in his hands as the six women and six men delivered their verdict in Oakland County Circuit Court. One juror sobbed so hard that she had to compose herself before affirming her guilty verdict to the judge.

The jury's decision, which came after less than a day of deliberation, means McCloud -- who was charged as an adult -- will spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced Nov 13.

McCloud and his codefendant, Dontez Tillman, were accused of being part of a group of teens who went on a three-day crime spree in August 2008. The boys, then 14, were classmates at Jefferson Middle School.

McCloud was convicted of fatally beating Wilford Hamilton, 61, and Lee Hoffman, 65. Both homeless men were found unconscious on Pontiac streets and died at hospitals.

Tillman's jury did not reach a verdict Tuesday and is expected to continue deliberations today. He, too, is charged with first-degree felony murder, but only in Hamilton's death.

During the trial, Oakland County assistant prosecutor Gregory Townsend presented jurors with taped interviews the teens gave police, admitting to some of the assaults.

The boys' defense attorneys argued their clients were confused, and that police asked leading questions in an effort to get confessions.

McCloud's mother, Kim Hazard, and his five siblings sobbed in court as McCloud -- shackled at his waist with his face swollen from crying -- was led from the courtroom.

His sister called out, "We love you!" prompting an angry rebuke from Judge Steven Andrews.

"He's got enough problems without you laying that on him," Andrews scolded loudly.

"The U.N. Human Rights Council is troubled — deeply, deeply troubled"

2009-10-27T06:26:00.000-05:00

Oh those zany Righwingnuts - they just love to laugh, so long as the misery they're laughing about isn't happening to them. I wonder whether, if we were to put good ol jolly roger Jonah into our own Tent City, or perhaps let him face a few months on the downtown streets of Nashville, he would find the lack of affordable housing such a hilarious matter......

Monday, October 26, 2009

Not a Parody [Jonah Goldberg]

This is the best story of the day! The U.N. Human Rights Council is troubled — deeply, deeply troubled — by rumors that New York City's lack of affordable housing violates human rights. So it is dispatching “a special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.” From the Times:

Everybody knows New York City is an expensive place to live. But the United Nations wants to know if affordable housing is so tough to come by that it actually violates human rights.

The United Nations has assigned an official, “a special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing,” to check the city’s affordable housing. The rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, is to tour the city for the next three days with housing advocates and city officials to “hear the voices of those who are suffering on the ground,” she said.

The United Nations Human Rights Council appoints a rapporteur, or independent experts, to investigate human rights conditions around the world. In the case of Ms. Rolnik, a professor of urban planning at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, her “mission” is to tour New York City and six other places in the United States and to report back to the United Nations General Assembly about housing rights violations and advances.

After that, “We send off letters to governments to ask, ‘Is this true? What’s going on?’ and to please intervene,” she said.

Housing advocates will be taking Ms. Rolnik to the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn to see the results of the government’s use of eminent domain to seize property; to the New York City Housing Authority’s Grant Houses in Harlem to see how public housing residents live; and to the Bronx to meet residents whose landlords are in foreclosure.

At a town hall meeting last night in Morningside Heights, residents wept and shouted at Ms. Rolnik. They complained about deteriorating public housing, the lack of housing subsidies for AIDS patients, landlord harassment and many other issues, large and small.

She told them: “I am representing the right of adequate housing as a human right.”

“We have about 50 to 100 regulars that we pick up on a daily basis"

2009-10-26T06:22:00.000-05:00

Folks who attended a packed room at the EastPark Community Center over on Woodland Ave in East Nashville last year may recall both Metro PD speakers and Judge Dan Eisenstien lamenting this same problem here in our fair city.

There is a sense among many who are charged with protecting and serving our community that "chronic inebriates" are problematic because there are no laws that can force someone to "sober up."

People who enjoy daily heavy imbibing at most will spend a day or two in the pokey for their over-indulgent swilling, and police and the court system are then forced to watch helplessly as those same persons exit the jail after sobering up and head straight to the liquor store to resume the party.

More than a few times I've heard some officials say "if only we could keep them longer."

Watch out - here's how they can - and are - going to keep them longer....

Homeless Deaths Rise, and Anchorage Copes

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: October 24, 2009

ANCHORAGE — A man was down, immobile at the edge of one of this city’s busiest intersections. No sirens sounded, no ambulance rushed to the scene. Dealing with the scourge that has consumed Alaska’s biggest city is often delegated to two men in a white van, the Community Service Patrol.

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Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Community Service Patrol officers in Anchorage picked up a man who had passed out.

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Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Sgt. Dennis Allen poured out a bottle of alcohol he found in the possession of homeless people.

The New York Times

“We have about 50 to 100 regulars that we pick up on a daily basis,” said Josh Wilson, one of the patrol workers.

The man down was homeless and had passed out, drunk, like he often does. Mr. Wilson knew him by name. The Community Service Patrol would soon take him to the city sleep-off center, where by the next morning, if he was sober enough, he would be free to go.

Mr. Wilson said odds were good that he would once again drink and pass out, putting himself and possibly others at risk and demanding intervention from this city’s frayed social safety net.
“Worse,” Mr. Wilson said when asked how things had changed in his two years with the patrol. “Absolutely tenfold worse.”

The police and social service providers say Anchorage has as many as 400 people they call “chronic public inebriates,” with up to 25 percent of them regarded as the most difficult cases. This year, after the deaths of at least 13 homeless people since the spring, there has been a widespread sense that the city’s response has been inadequate and must change.

The new mayor, Dan Sullivan, a Republican, has created a staff position and a task force devoted to addressing homelessness. The police recently gained the authority to dismantle homeless encampments with just 12 hours’ notice. Citizen groups are patrolling parks where homeless camps have been the site of rapes and other violence. But in perhaps the biggest and most controversial break from how the city has handled the problem in the past, a Salvation Army detoxification and alcohol abuse treatment center has begun accepting chronic inebriates who have been taken there essentially by force.

With $1.2 million in new state financing pushed through by one of Alaska’s more liberal Democrats, State Senator Johnny Ellis of Anchorage, the facility, the Clitheroe Center, is accepting people committed under a state law, Title 47. Under the law, a judge can order people into secure treatment for 30 days, and potentially for months, if the police, a doctor or family members convince the judge that the person’s abuse of alcohol has made them a threat to themselves and others. The person does not need to have committed a crime.

“Ten years ago, there would have been a community outcry that Johnny Ellis is locking up people with the disease of addiction,” Mr. Ellis said. “ ‘How can he do that and say he’s still a progressive?’ ”

Now, Mr. Ellis said, the problem has increased so much “that for various motivations people are saying let’s try something new.” He added, “The people dropping dead during the summertime really got this community paying attention.”

One homeless person drowned. Another was hit by a car. One died from hypothermia. Most had been drinking, and several had four or even five times the blood-alcohol level above which a person is considered too drunk to drive. Experts say the problem of public drunkenness is part of a larger homeless problem that disproportionately affects Native Alaskans, particularly men who have moved in from rural parts of Alaska and lost their way in the city. The recession has also played a role.

Involuntary commitment of homeless alcoholics has been used elsewhere in the country. Some homeless advocates say it infringes on civil rights, and they question its effectiveness. Here in Anchorage, several longtime advocates said the severity of the situation had made them open to giving it a chance.

“If the access to services and treatment and supportive resources are there, perhaps this Title 47 will be a good thing for people,” said Michael Burke, an Episcopal priest who has worked with homeless alcoholics for two decades. “But if those latter pieces are not present, then you simply have a complex issue for which the only solution is let’s lock up the people who are disturbing us. That’s not an effective solution, and in the end it won’t work.”

Mr. Burke was among several people who said that cuts to longer-term treatment programs in the past had made detoxification efforts ineffective and could render the Clitheroe program irrelevant if they happen again. Mr. Ellis blamed “the Republican budget-cutting era” that took hold in the state capital, Juneau, in the 1990s. “We lost a lot of our treatment capacity,” he said.

He said the new program was deliberately small, paying for just 10 beds at the center.

Several homeless advocates say that new Republican interest in the issue, as well as the comfort level liberals have with Mr. Ellis, is helping to build a coalition of business owners who want to keep streets clean and safe and homeless advocates who are willing to experiment with more assertive tactics. Jeff Jessee, the chief executive of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which provides a wide variety of social services and financing for them, said that while Mayor Sullivan often says, “We can’t continue to allow these people to take over our public spaces,” he also says, “These chronic inebriates are also citizens, and we owe them better.”

Robert Heffle, the director of the Clitheroe Center, said that political motives were irrelevant to him, and that he was simply glad to get the resources to try something new.

“If we keep doing what we been doing,” Mr. Heffle said, “we’re going to keep getting what we’ve been getting.”

"It's a very dangerous situation"

2009-10-25T13:55:00.001-05:00

Not sure yet whether I've been exposed directly to H1N1, but I'd bet I have. One of my staff members called me this morning, sick as a dog, saying she'd been diagnosed with H1N1 and would be staying home for the next couple of days.

I have never been so happy to have a part-time employee; she came down with her first symptoms on Friday afternoon but her last work-day for the week ended Wednesday afternoon. I have no clue whether we've all been exposed because she may have had symptoms on Thursday but didn't yet know she was coming down with the flu:

The duration of shedding with novel influenza A (h1N1) virus is unknown. Therefore, until data are available, the estimated duration of viral shedding is based upon seasonal influenza virus infection.. Infected persons are assumed to be shedding virus from one day prior to illness onset until resolution of symptoms. In general, persons with novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection should be considered potentially infectious from one day before to 7 days following illness onset. Children, especially younger children, might be infectious for up to 10 days.

So far, so good however, and I told her not to bother coming to work at least until her doctor releases her; right now she's got a written excuse that keeps her out through Wednesday, which means we won't see her until next week anyway.

I'm not so much concerned for myself and other staff, although it would suck big-time to catch this rotten flu - especially since the last time I had the flu here, I was also the lucky recipient of a good dose of Bell's Palsy right as the flu itself seemed to be gone for good.

Rather, I'm more concerned for the health and welfare of those who frequent my office but are forced to spend their nights under bridges, at the homeless camps, in the Mission and at various other places, none of which are conducive to a speedy recovery from something like the flu.

Frankly, most of these places are perfect environments for the flu to wreak havoc on folks, so the more I can limit exposure in my office the better.

Meanwhile, I'm going to get a couple of flu shots this week and would encourage all of you who work with folks on the street to do the same; it'll protect you but more importantly, it will also protect those who are in no position to protect themselves.....

H1N1 outbreak could be 'dangerous' for Canada's homeless: advocates

By Andy Blatchford (CP) – 1 hour ago

MONTREAL — In one of Canada's first sweeps of H1N1 inoculation, street nurses will be ducking in and out of alleys on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, vaccinating the homeless, the downtrodden and the drug-addicted.

On the other side of the country, H1N1 syringes will be popped into the arms of the down-and-out at some of the bigger shelters in Montreal and Toronto.

But many of those who work closely with the homeless hope the efforts will be enough to keep H1N1 from striking a population segment that's among society's most vulnerable.

"It's a very dangerous situation," said Cathy Crowe, a street nurse and member of the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee.

Crowe wonders what shelters will do if their clients are indeed infected with H1N1.

"If somebody who's homeless gets sick, where do they recover for three or four days if they don't end up in hospital?" Crowe asked.

Crowe, who described the cramped quarters of shelters as prime turf for the spread of illnesses, said governments must act fast to set up recovery facilities for those who are ailing - and contagious.

"It's a Petri dish for disease - we've witnessed waves of Norwalk virus, waves of tuberculosis in the past, flus, (and) bed bugs," Crowe said.

She knows of at least one shelter in Ottawa that will offer an entire floor for flu recovery, but said most organizations don't have that capacity.

"Across the country it's just a mishmash," she said of H1N1 strategies to protect the homeless.

Montreal's Old Brewery Mission has stocked up on masks, installed more hand-sanitizer dispensers and launched an information campaign for clients on how to prevent the spread of H1N1.
It will host a vaccination clinic in early November, the mission's director says.

But he fears an H1N1 outbreak could move swiftly along the Old Brewery's many rows of bunk beds.

"We have the largest, single homeless dormitory in Canada, a room of 72 beds - that's a lot of human beings to put together at any time," said Old Brewery director Matthew Pearce.

"So, from a flu point of view, you can imagine what a challenge it's going to be to keep things healthy."

Pearce said a serious outbreak of H1N1 could force the Old Brewery into the difficult decision of closing beds - in an attempt to separate the infected from everybody else.

"We're not a medical facility and ought not to be thought of as one," he said.

"In the event of a pandemic, we would want the hospitals to take care of sick people ... we don't have facilities to isolate people."

In Toronto, the homeless population will receive doses of the vaccine at the same time as the general public, the city's health department says.

Liz Janzen of Toronto Public Health said the homeless didn't prove to be more susceptible to H1N1 during last spring's outbreak.

"Regardless, it's a matter of days difference between the priority and the general population for us," said Janzen, who expects immunization for the general population to begin the first week of November.

Back on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country, community health centres will begin offering the vaccine to locals early this week - ahead of the general population.

The area is home to many intravenous drug users and people with underlying health conditions, said Anna Marie D'Angelo of Vancouver Coastal Health.

"People living there have a high risk for complications with H1N1 for all those reasons - so they are a priority group," said D'Angelo, adding they will be vaccinated at the same time as pregnant women, young children and people with chronic medical conditions.

Six volunteer outreach nurses are expected to start pounding the pavement and visiting local hotels for the skid-row "inoculation blitz" around the beginning of November.

D'Angelo said the Downtown Eastside street nurses have been administering seasonal flu shots in the same way for the past few years - including more than 2,500 people in 2008.

James Pratt of the Greater Vancouver Shelter Strategy said this type of proactive approach is good way to reach those who seldom show up at shelters or drop-in centres.

Preparations are underway to protect marginalized populations, but the concern remains prevalent, Pratt said.
"People have their fingers crossed."

Channel 4 Video of the 2009 Operation Stand Down Piece...

2009-10-25T11:19:00.001-05:00

Finally, Channel 4 posted the vid the 09 Stand Down event.

Watch it here

"a night of terror."

2009-10-24T20:01:00.000-05:00

Hope these punks spend the rest of their miserable lives getting the snot kicked outta them and being traded for tailer-mades in Michigan's Jackson Prison; largest walled pen in the US and meaner than most, too....

Beating victim testifies in homeless men's murders

Witness says group of teens assaulted him

BY L.L. BRASIER

He described it as a night of terror.

Anthony Pace, a warehouse manager of a Salvation Army store in Pontiac, took the witness stand Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court and described how he was brutally beaten in a random attack by a group of teen boys as he walked home from work late one night in August 2008.

Two of the boys police say were in that group, who both were 14 at the time, now are charged with murder, accused of killing two homeless men during a three-day beating spree leading up to Pace's assault.

"I got smacked on the side of the head, now I'm on the ground, I'm getting pummeled," Pace told jurors. "They're kicking me in my head. ... A car comes by, I try to jump on the hood to get away, but it kept going."

The teens "dragged me back to the curb; they tried to beat my head on the curb, my teeth were pushed through my lips."

Pace was one of the lucky ones, prosecutors said. He escaped and got medical attention.

The homeless men weren't so fortunate. Dontez Tillman and Thomas McCloud, both now 15, face life in prison if convicted of stomping and beating to death Wilford Hamilton, 61, who was found in a Pontiac alley. McCloud also is charged with murder in the stomping death of Lee Hoffman, 65, who was found nearby.

Under cross-examination by Tillman's defense attorney, Marsha Kosmatka, Pace said he could not identify his attackers.

"So you're not able to tell this jury who did this to you, just what happened to you, is that correct?" Kosmatka asked.

Pace said yes.

In opening statements, assistant prosecutor Gregory Townsend told jurors he would present taped interviews police conducted in which the two boys admit to their involvement.

Townsend said Tillman and McCloud chose Hamilton and Hoffman because they were easy prey.

"They died because they were weak, they were vulnerable," Townsend said, as the two boys, dressed in sweater vests and pressed shirts, looked on.

McCloud's attorney, Howard Arnkoff, told jurors that his client was not even in Pontiac the day the men were beaten, but staying with his older brother in Waterford.

"Those overruns, caused by unexpected expenses and a decision to keep open two popular golf courses during the winter, only became apparent recently"

2009-10-22T05:26:00.003-05:00

One million dollars.

Hmmmm.

let's see, if we were to take that one million dollars (and apparently counting) and use it for, oh, I don't know, let's say housing subsidies for our poorest, disabled and/or mentally ill homeless folks on the streets - and there are lots or them, believe it - we'd be able to place 20,000 (twenty thousand) folks into housing for a month.

I am of course using the $50 minimum that some agencies who provide "affordable housing" to folks charge those with no income.

OR....

We could alternatively house 1,666 folks on our streets for a full year at that rate.

Wonder how many folks used the links in question here and provided by our fair city last year?

Wonder if that number surpasses the number of homeless folks we have wandering about our city streets, parks and alleys?

Not knocking the game here, mind you, just wondering how it is that we can justify spending anything at all on a public golf course(s) when we have folks living under bridges and in parks around the city.

Maybe we ought to transfer the golf course cash into EDARs and set them up on the abandoned courses instead???

Priorities.....

October 22, 2009

Nashville parks spend $1M over budget

Mayor, agency board want answers

By Nate Rau
THE TENNESSEAN
In a year when nearly every department in Metro faced budget cuts of 10 percent or more, Parks & Recreation was the only one to come in over budget, and it has continued to run a deficit for the first two months of this budget year.

Those overruns, caused by unexpected expenses and a decision to keep open two popular golf courses during the winter, only became apparent recently and have left Mayor Karl Dean's administration and the Parks board searching for answers about what happened.

The Metro Finance Department awaits final figures for just how far over budget Parks was at the end of last fiscal year, but Deputy Director Talia Lomax-O'Dneal estimated the overrun would be in the neighborhood of $800,000. For the first two months of the current budget year, Parks is over budget by about $200,000, as of September.
"I think it is a significant issue that needs to be dealt with," Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling said. "Frankly, it's just not fair to the rest of the government when other departments are playing by the rules and living within their means."

Virtually every Metro department had its budget cut by about 10 percent this year, and Parks was no different. Its current $28 million budget reflects a 12.5 percent cut compared to last year. The department said in May, when the Metro Council passed the current budget, that it planned to lay-off about 50 workers, although that number has been reduced largely by leaving positions vacant.

Parks Director Roy Wilson said the department suffered a series of "unexpected expenses" in May and July, including repairs at Two Rivers golf course stemming from a lightning strike to its irrigation system.

But the fifth-year director also acknowledged that some of the budget overruns stemmed from decisions he made to open golf courses at Shelby and Percy Warner parks during the winter months, though they were scheduled to be closed. Wilson also opened the Cleveland Park swimming pool this summer.

"Some things I added back into operation that had been reduced … due to pressure from the community," Wilson said, referring to his decision to open the golf courses and pool.

The Metro Parks Board became aware of the situation after the Finance Department gave the seven-member body the budget numbers earlier this month. It plans to hold a special meeting next week to discuss the issue.

Councilman concerned
Board Chairman Stanley Fossick indicated it was too soon to point fingers, but said the board wanted to see the budget balance out soon. Fossick pointed out that typically the Parks Department sees its budget rise in the summer months with additional seasonal workers.

"When we meet again, hopefully we'll have the audited September (monthly) budget," Fossick said. "If we're not seeing the trend starting to correct itself, the board is going to have to make recommendations to get this back in order."

Riebeling said his greatest concern stemmed from the fact that the Parks board was not alerted to the budget over-run and learned about the problem from his department. Wilson said he made the board aware of his decision to open the seasonal facilities and of the extra repair expenses.

The situation also concerned District 4 Metro Councilman Michael Craddock.

"I'm extremely disappointed. I think Director Wilson needs to do a much better job," said Craddock, who tends to be outspoken on budget issues. "The buck stops at his desk. He's in charge. There is absolutely no excuse for operating over the budget, none whatsoever."

"More women — and, for the first time this year, men — are turning to adult entertainment as a way to find lucrative work quickly and legally"

2009-10-22T04:58:00.000-05:00

When people get desperate, all bets are off.

We ought to be asking ourselves why it is that in a place like Nashville, known around our country as the Buckle of the Bible Belt, a city with a church on darned near every corner, can live with the hypocrisy of an attractive young woman who's only opportunity to earn a real living is satisfying the sexual fantasies of those with some dollars still in their pockets?

Wonder if she'll be able to dance and serve drinks at the same rate of pay in the new convention center?

October 19, 2009

Jobs, money attract many unemployed to adult entertainment sector

Permit applications rise as many seek nontraditional work

By Janell Ross
THE TENNESSEAN

Jamie Tillman looked for a job for nearly eight months.

The 22-year-old applied to sit-down restaurants, fast-food chains and retail stores at the mall — all the kinds of places she has worked before.

But in August, with the unemployment rate at 9.6 percent in Davidson County and 10.7 percent statewide, she wasn't having much luck. After losing her car and running out of friends' couches to sleep on, Tillman found herself in a Nashville homeless shelter.

To get there, she walked past one of the city's five adult entertainment clubs. Then it hit her.

"I wonder what it takes to work in there," said Tillman.

She explained her situation to the manager, who guided her through the application process for obtaining a sexually oriented business license from Metro. On Tuesday, she and five other applicants went to the Metro Office Building on Second Avenue to receive their permits. Five others who were not present also were granted permits.

Tillman worked in an adult entertainment club for the first time Thursday night. (The Tennessean is not naming the establishment at Tillman's request, though the paper did verify her employment there.)

It turns out Tillman's choice isn't unique. More women — and, for the first time this year, men — are turning to adult entertainment as a way to find lucrative work quickly and legally.

"We're seeing lots of new girls applying for permits, guys who are applying for permits to dance at the new all-male club and more than a few women renewing after letting their permit lapse for a few years," said Christine Gibson, a Metro codes compliance inspector who oversees sexually oriented business licensing and entertainer permitting.

"They are saying they're coming back because either their husbands or boyfriends lost their job, they themselves lost a job or they just need more income for their families. There are a lot of single mothers that apply."

Permit requests rise

The total number of people who applied for or renewed a permit necessary to work in an adult entertainment club or adult bookstore in Nashville reached 330 in September, compared to about 300 this time last year. While that number may not sound like a big increase, it comes as some clubs have shut down and the ones that remain are actually seeing fewer customers.

One dancer, who would agree to give only her stage name, "Leather," said the growing number of dancers, combined with fewer customers, means she's only bringing in about $280 on a good night, compared to about $650 on a good night last year. She blamed the economy and relatively new Metro rules that require distance between customers and dancers in the club's main room.

Across the country, there is anecdotal evidence that the number of people entering sex industry work — legal and illegal — is on the rise as joblessness continues, said Bernadette Barton, an associate professor of sociology and women's studies at Morehead State University in Kentucky who specializes in the study of sexuality. Between 1998 and 2003, Barton interviewed exotic dancers for her book Stripped: Inside the Lives of Exotic Dancers.

Barton said the reason more people are looking for work in the city's sexually oriented businesses is simple: Turnover is high, the emotional and physical toll can be steep and the pay can be high, too. That means the industry is almost always hiring.

In clubs visited by The Tennessean for this story, there was a former real estate agent, a former dog groomer and Iraq war veterans — all new to the industry and working in the clubs because of the economy, they said.

Barton said most dancers aren't stupid, and none of the women she interviewed for her book also worked as prostitutes. Several did acknowledge drinking or using drugs in order to deal with performing partially or totally nude or to endure the sexually charged mistreatment that sometimes happens in clubs. Others said they enjoyed the opportunity to perform.

"For people willing to look, it tells you something about the cost of living, what kind of jobs and what kind of pay may be readily available to women," Barton said.

But in Nashville, it's not just women who are taking jobs in adult entertainment clubs.

Male dancers featured

Just south of downtown in a building so recently occupied that the sign is really a removable banner, Cole Wakefield says he is doing a lot of business and his best dancers are taking home $500 to $600 a night. The reason: Arrow Nashville is the only strip club featuring male dancers in Tennessee. Wakefield, who co-owns and operates Arrow, was the only club owner willing to speak with The Tennessean about the industry, the economy and his work force.

"We have people come in pretty much every day looking for work," said Wakefield, who got into the industry after his career as a freelance travel writer and porn reviewer began to suffer the recession's woes this year. "A lot of them are people who may not have that much in the way of education and need to earn a living. We're happy to give them that chance."

Tillman's story

And then there is Tillman.

When Tillman picked up her permit Tuesday, she looked something like Miley Cyrus in skinny jeans and stilettos.

At 18, Tillman's mother had a child and was on her own. So when Tillman — who doesn't have any children — turned 18, her family expected her to support herself. She got a job, enrolled at a community college and got a car. That was in 2006.

Then Tillman lost her job at Applebee's when business slowed. That started her on a downward slope familiar to many who are struggling financially.

Tillman's car broke down while she was looking for work. But since she couldn't afford the towing company's bill, the company kept and sold her car to collect its fees, according to court records. Tillman then decided to move in with her ailing grandfather.

Tillman cared for him until he died last year. She grew depressed and sought medical care even though she did not have insurance. That generated more bills. Then the bank foreclosed on the home where Tillman and her grandfather lived because there was nobody to pay the mortgage, she said. Tillman worked at Red Lobster, but she was laid off in February.

"I finally just had enough," she said. "I just have to get my life back on track. Earn some money. Save an emergency fund and get enough together to get my own place and hopefully get back in school."

Tillman thinks she needs about $5,000: $4,000 to get her own place, buy a used car and pay tuition, and $1,000 to put in savings for emergencies so that she'll never be in this situation again.

To pay for her sexually oriented entertainer permit, Tillman, who also just landed a part-time job at a retail shop in an area mall, pawned her jewelry, some of which her grandmother gave her.

The permit, with its required photos, fingerprints and background check, cost her $58.

"I see a great attempt to support those individuals with, not just providing subsidies, but also to provide job opportunities and training."

2009-10-22T04:48:00.001-05:00

One of the best things about working for the agency I do is that we're able to provide exactly these things, in ways many other agencies only wish they could. Our ED has been pretty savvy in setting up the organization and rather than take the new Housing First approach, he's been plodding along with the traditional approach; sobriety, transitional housing, employment/disability income, permanent housing, long-term support for those who pass through the program.

I've been a consumer and employee of many social service agencies over the past 50 years and I am here to tell you, while the approach is similar to that which has been in place for a long time, there is something radically different about this org and its ability to make the approach work well.

It's the fact that when someone comes through our doors and jumps through our hoops - and there are always hoops attached to any of these programs because we don't get the money to assist folks given to us without those same hoops in place for us - they become a member of our "family."

I was fortunate enough to be part of an agency that was gifted a year-long Radical Loving Care training that Baptist Healing Trust does and I can tell you that what we have at our agency is exactly what this training tries to initiate and stimulate within an agency via that training.

But there's something about these old military guys n girls that bond them together; a common shared experience that allows them all to relate to something - to belong to something - far greater than the sum of the parts.

Not every person that comes through my door has seen combat or been involved in a conflict, but I tell you now, every person that comes through that door and has served their country honorably is viewed with love, respect, compassion and understanding.

This permeates our agency and I frankly was scared to death when I started this job at what the environment would be like, seeing as how I'd never served and by nature am adamantly opposed to war anyway.

Almost six months later - lordy, has it been that long already? - I can tell you that I've never met a group of more caring and concerned people in my life, and better yet, I've expanded my family to include many of them. Sounds crazy but I'm telling you, there are people there that I can guarantee I will have a lifelong relationship with and would be devastated to lose.

This is not to say it's a building full of suckers, mind you. Most of the folks I work with are tough as nails and have lots of experience in the areas they deal with on a daily basis. But I also know they love their country, they love their brothers and sisters, and they'll give the shirts off their backs to those who need it. I know because I've seen it done, not once or twice, but daily; every day, day in day out.

So I'm thinking about this new effort - a new five year plan to go hand in hand with the old ten year plan - and I'm hoping that all of the good and caring people who work every day just as hard as I do to provide the same things I do to the ever-increasing thousands of people who need it the most will succeed wildly, because a whole lotta misery hangs in the balance.....

Nashville will spend millions on housing in poor areas

5-year plan targets poor areas, homeless

By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • October 22, 2009

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Metro will spend more than $6 million to improve infrastructure in poor neighborhoods, $2 million to bolster economic opportunities and almost $4 million on community services over the next five years, according to a plan released Wednesday by the city's housing agency.

The Metro Development and Housing Agency said it will emphasize the creation of economic opportunities and prevention of homelessness as it spends the $33 million in grants it expects to receive through four federal programs between 2010 and 2014.

"There are in this economy people who are potentially homeless, and we need to assist those individuals," Howard Gentry, a member of the Homelessness Commission, said after reading the report.

"I see a great attempt to support those individuals with, not just providing subsidies, but also to provide job opportunities and training."

The Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the five-year plan, which updates spending priorities, for MDHA to continue receiving funding. A public comment period on the report runs until Nov. 19.

The plan also calls for setting aside $2.5 million for down payment assistance, $5.6 million for emergency home repairs and $1.5 million for financial assistance to landlords. Such programs can keep people from moving out of their homes and into public housing, the report says.

People with HIV/AIDS and their families could receive about $4 million in rental assistance and other services, under the plan.

The proposal calls for spreading resources to prevent intense concentrations of poverty.

"The whole thing has a lot to do with my alcoholism and my drinking problem."

2009-10-20T06:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, this pisses me off to no end here. I'm sorry to inflict this upon my readers but you, Mr. Loisel, are nothing more than a deceitful scammer, not to mention a pedophile and liar.

Adding insult to egregious injury, you've got the nerve to blame your criminal acts on alcohol?

You of all people should know that shifting the blame to booze for your own perverted, heinous and disgusting conduct is a copout of monumental proportions.

Not only did you destroy your own name and reputation by this stupidity, you can bet your arse that your criminal conduct will reflect negatively on people experiencing homelessness; people who already have enough hardships and heartaches to deal with without having some moron come along and wrap a cement slab to legs that are barely treading water.

You ought to be punished to the fullest extent of the law and then relegated to community service dish-washing at shelters around the city for the next ten years.

I hope you spend a good amount of time in the pen, sir.

Homeless center director in Santa Cruz faces charges of molesting 16 year old in LA

By Genevieve Bookwalter

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted: 10/19/2009 09:36:24 PM PDT

Updated: 10/19/2009 10:21:05 PM PDT

SANTA CRUZ — The director of the Homeless Services Center faces criminal charges of molesting an underage girl, an accusation that went unnoticed by the group of community leaders that recommended him to lead the county's largest homeless shelter last spring.

"I thought maybe I could fly under the radar but I couldn't," director Doug Loisel, 47, said Monday when contacted about the case.

The Sentinel found a Los Angeles County legal complaint that accuses Loisel of inappropriately touching a girl younger than 18 last year, trying to sell her whiskey and attempting to meet her later to further their physical relationship.

On Monday, Loisel and the board that oversees the center were asked to comment for this report.
Loisel initially said he planned to resign immediately: "The whole thing has a lot to do with my alcoholism and my drinking problem. I made some decisions under the influence because I was drinking every day."

A few minutes later, Loisel called back to say he would not resign but was not sure what his plans would be.

Meanwhile, board members, who said they were not aware of the charges against Loisel before being contacted Monday, said he has done a good job since beginning work for the center in April and that the charges wouldn't immediately affect his job, unless he is convicted.

"I think we could keep him, yes," said board member Rowland Rebele, for whom the center's family shelter is named.

However, he added, "We feel that we need to look into this case very seriously before we make a decision."

Board members said no background check was performed on Loisel before he was hired.

Before working at the Homeless Services Center, Loisel was executive director of social services for the Salvation Army of Los Angeles County.

He left that job in fall 2008, about the same time charges were filed, according to court and employment records.

Since arriving in Santa Cruz, Loisel has received community praise for his work with clients and operating on a limited budget.

Rebele said Loisel's references gave him high marks.

According to the complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court last October, Loisel met an underage girl for lewd purposes, a felony; tried to sell alcohol to the underage girl, a misdemeanor; and molested or annoyed the underage girl, also a misdemeanor.

If convicted on the first or third counts, he would be required to register as a sex offender in California.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Steve Ipson, who is prosecuting the case, said Loisel was arrested in a sting operation after the girl complained to law enforcement officials about his advances.

Loisel, who is married, said in an e-mail sent to board members Monday afternoon that he had a "nonsexual but romantic exchange" with a 16-year-old former student at a community college where he taught in Southern California.

She went to law enforcement officials, Loisel wrote, and detectives then posed as the girl and asked him to meet her at a hotel room.

He agreed, showed up at the arranged location and was arrested for solicitation of a minor, according to the e-mail.

"I would never have done this if I were sober," Loisel said in the e-mail, admitting that he suffered from a drug and alcohol addiction.

Loisel stated he has been sober since September 2008, right after the arrest, and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every day.

"10 available beds in a system of more than 7,000 for homeless single adults."

2009-10-19T06:49:00.000-05:00

If you pay attention to homelessness at all, you're sure to see a pattern emerge quite quickly as you review stats and arguments from different cities. Almost always, it boils down to something very simple; there aren't enough beds to go around.

How you want to differentiate those beds - transitional, respite, long-term, etc - is up to you and doesn't really matter anyway, since there aren't enough of any of them to meet the need we're seeing here in the United States.

Everywhere you go and damned near every conversation you hear about homelessness eventually comes back to the fact that what we're really lacking here is....housing.

Doh.

Sounds simple enough, yes?

Provide more housing.

Yet for myriad reasons, we seem to find ways to avoid this very simple solution, whether it's from a downright un-neighborly NIMBY attitude, lack of money to subsidize rents or building of new units, political wrangling, opposing viewpoints, blah blah blah blah.

Drill down still further and of course, you come to that time honored excuse used by politicians and city officials around the world - say it with me now:

"We don't have the money. "

I think, as we look around at all the wealth in this country, folks are having an increasingly harder time buying this excuse and there's only so much folks are going to take before they begin fighting back. Trust me when I tell you that there are lotsa folks on the streets who don't give a damn about following laws they feel unfairly target them, forever relegating them to lives of abject poverty.

People are fed up and they are not going to take this much longer. I really hope those who are in positions to make a priority-shift a priority are listening.....

Mayor, can you spare a little real change? Homelessness is rising - so change the city's policy

BY Mary Brosnahan

Monday, October 19th 2009, 4:00 AM

Late in last week's mayoral debate, the question was put to Mayor Bloomberg: You committed to dramatically reducing homelessness; now it's on the rise. Why?

Bloomberg shifted blame - noting that the federal government had cut back on Section 8 housing vouchers - and touting a city program that he claims has moved homeless families into permanent housing.

The problem is, he isn't telling the whole truth. Not by a long shot.

In June 2004, Bloomberg pledged to reduce homelessness in New York City by two-thirds within five years. Today, his administration is presiding over a milestone of a different sort: For the first time since the city began keeping records 25 years ago, more than 39,000 homeless New Yorkers are sleeping in our municipal shelter system each night. That number includes 10,000 homeless families with 16,500 children. Compared to 2002, 45% more New Yorkers are sleeping in municipal homeless shelters each year.

Simply put, New York City is in the midst of a homelessness emergency and it's only getting worse.
Last fiscal year, more than 120,000 different New Yorkers slept at some point in municipal homeless shelters, including an all-time record 43,826 different homeless children. This year, the number of homeless adults and children in shelters each night has increased by another 12%.

Just as the cold weather hits, New York City is on track to literally run out of shelter beds for homeless adults. As of Sept. 30, there were only two empty beds left in the entire New York City shelter system for homeless men and only eight empty beds for homeless women - 10 available beds in a system of more than 7,000 for homeless single adults.

With the economy still reeling - and city unemployment now topping 10% - this crisis will continue to get worse unless the Bloomberg administration changes direction and does so quickly.

For starters, New York City urgently needs more beds. But it's not just a matter of continuing to grow the costly shelter system. Bloomberg must speed up the city's plans to develop new permanent supportive housing, particularly for homeless individuals with mental illness and other special needs. While the city's current 10-year plan to construct 6,250 new units is laudable, more than half of those units aren't scheduled to come online until at least 2011.

Even then, meeting the acute needs of homeless adults won't do anything to move 10,000 homeless families out of shelters. That will require Bloomberg to reverse his 2005 decision to cut off homeless New Yorkers from federal housing assistance such as Section 8 vouchers and vacant public housing apartments.

The administration - particularly Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs - argued in 2005 that denying homeless New Yorkers access to Section 8 vouchers and public housing would act as a disincentive to people who might have another housing option with a friend or relative from entering shelter.

It hasn't worked out that way. Long before the recession began, the decision to bar homeless New Yorkers from federal housing assistance has led to more families, not fewer, entering and staying in New York City's shelter system. Now that President Obama and Congress are strengthening the federal voucher program, we should use it to help the neediest New Yorkers.

The mayor doesn't talk much about his pledge to end homelessness anymore. He should - admitting his failures and changing direction before it's too late.

Done for 2009 - See Ya Next Year!

2009-10-19T06:27:00.000-05:00

After two 14+ hour days and a good 12 hour Sunday, Operation Stand Down 2009 has ended and from all accounts, it has been a resounding success!

The final tally of homeless veterans served is as follows:
Men: 404
Women: 21
Families: 2

205 of these folks spent all three days at the event and I have to say, it was yet another extremely emotional, highly invigorating and unbelievably uplifting event to participate in!

This event wouldn't have been possible without the tremendous help from our volunteers, who numbered over 1,000 again this year! We owe them such a huge debt of gratitude I don't think we'll ever be able to repay it, but on behalf of all the staff from Operation Stand Down Nashville, I'd like to shout out a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone who made this event possible and who donated food, supplies and labor to make the event run smoothly!

To all the veterans who participated this year, I'd also like to say on behalf of our staff that we're here to help so please don't pass up the opportunities we may be able to put in front of you throughout the rest of the year. We can lead horses to water, but it's up to the horse to drink.....

426 Vets Served at the 17th Annual Operation Stand Down

2009-10-18T05:39:00.000-05:00

The weekend is just about over and we've served 426 homeless veterans at this Stand Down; by all accounts the event has been a resounding success.

I'm putting in the last 12 hour day today and we'll be tearing down this afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated and supported our event.

Most importantly however, "THANK YOU" to those who served our country honorably yet have found it difficult to re-adjust and/or survive once you returned home. It's all of our duty to help these men and women, since whether you agreed with the wars they fought in or not, they're still Americans who fought for YOU.

roughly half of the troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are parents, many of whom have served multiple tours.

2009-10-18T05:36:00.000-05:00

More and more I am seeing veterans coming into the service center with entire families. At the annual event, a family arrived in serious distress and while kids appear on the outside to be weathering their parent's storms well, what's going on inside may be a completely different story.

Folks often ask me for answers when they hear about things like this. You want answers?

Stop sending our children to war.

Then spend that huge military budget on social services, job training, housing vouchers, boosting the minimum wage and improving the lives of those who make up this country.

Not much worth protecting if the entire country is wandering around broke and homeless, is there?

Military Children in Crisis

Saturday 17 October 2009

by: Stacy Bannerman, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

America's military kids are showing symptoms of deployment-related stress, virtual mirrors of their parents who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Jonathon Gray, 5th Signal Command / heraldpost / flickr)

    A seven-year-old second-grader attempted suicide while his father was serving yet another tour in Iraq. Seven years old. Seven. His mother was one of half a dozen military spouses I have spoken with about soldiers' kids who have attempted suicide during their fathers' deployments.

    When I was seven, it was 1972, and there were 69,000 US troops in Vietnam. Men were still being drafted and deployed, but not my dad. So I was spared the circumstances that led a seven-year-old to try to kill himself.

    Three-plus decades ago, parents were exempt from conscription because of overwhelming concern about the harmful effects of deployment on children. Today, roughly half of the troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are parents, many of whom have served multiple tours. Repeat deployments stress soldiers and escalate the likelihood of psychological injuries that can last for a lifetime. There is a small, but rapidly growing, body of evidence suggesting that the same is true of their children.

    The Associated Press reported that "After nearly eight years of war, soldiers are not the only ones experiencing mental anguish.... Last year, children of US troops sought outpatient mental health care 2 million times, double the number at the start of the Iraq war.... Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, inpatient visits among military children have increased 50 percent. ("War stresses military kids," July 12, 2009.)

    The Veterans Administration's latest research on mental health issues of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that "the prevalence of new diagnoses in early 2008 had nearly doubled from four years prior in 2004." ("Study reveals sharp rise in diagnoses of disorders," Stars & Stripes, July 18, 2009.)

    The same study revealed that approximately 35 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who use the Veterans Affairs health care system were diagnosed with a mental health problem. That figure dovetails perfectly with the results of a suicide prevention project in San Antonio which found that "nearly 35 percent of more than 200 children from local military families needed to be treated for mental health conditions." (Army Reserve Family Programs website, July 2009)

    America's military kids are in crisis, presenting acute, debilitating symptoms of deployment-related stress, virtual mirrors of their parents who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The current rates of mental health problems in OIF/OEF veterans and veterans' children (35 percent), and the trajectories of escalation from 2003/2004 to 2008 (50 percent), are identical.

Further evidence of the direct, causal relationship between parental deployment and children's mental health is that when the US "surged" in Iraq, sending more than twenty thousand soldiers and Marines to stabilize the country, mental health hospitalizations of military kids "surged," too.
    Should the White House decide to deploy tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, there must be a simultaneous stateside deployment of developmentally-appropriate mental health care providers to minister to the children left behind; children who have already carried too much of the weight of war.

    Military kids whose parent have deployed are using mental health services at a rate three and a half times higher than the percentage of civilian children ages 4 to 17 who seek mental health services, according to a study by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

    If we were a nation at war, rather than a military at war, this would be an American problem. We are not, so it's a Pentagon problem. Thankfully, the Army is looking at the effects of multiple deployments on children, and taking steps to help. But at the Association of the US Army's annual meeting earlier this month, Col. Kris Peterson, a pediatrician at the Military Child and Adolescent Center of Excellence at Fort Lewis, Washington, admitted that there is a "very large gap" in providing care.

    Mental health care resources are spread so thin that soldiers' kids wait months for psychiatric care, but there's no Department of Military Children's Affairs, no powerful lobbyists or highly paid advocates for military kids. They lack the social cachet and political currency of combat veterans, and there's just no way to spin a suicidal second-grader into a poster child for patriotism. Since there's not a Walter Reed to tend the invisible war wounds of Army kids, there is no potential lightning rod that could galvanize the people or embarrass the administration.

    In the America I grew up in, we wouldn't need one.

    That America didn't send soldier-parents to war over and over and over again. That America wanted to protect its children from the debilitating effects of a father's deployment. That America believed - and acted in concert with the belief - that the family unit should not, could not, would not withstand the burden of having a father in harm's way for a year, much less year after year after year. That America would have wept at the thought of a suicidal seven-year-old, and brought the father home immediately.

    In this America, a seven-year-old second-grader attempted suicide while his father was serving yet another tour in Iraq. Seven years old. Seven.

OPERATION STAND DOWN DAY 2: GATES OPEN FROM 8AM-10AM ONLY

2009-10-17T05:17:00.000-05:00

A quick recap of the Operation Stand Down event from the media's eyes.

The pic here is me after 14 hours at the gate getting 357 folks in for services....

Help Offered This Weekend To Homeless Veterans

Posted: Oct 16, 2009 9:02 PM CDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - They are some of our nation's finest, the veterans who have served our country in the Armed Forces. Many of them wind up homeless and needing help.

Operation Stand Down is happening this weekend with a mission to help the homeless veterans.
"People just don't realize all the care and love from all the churches and social services agencies here in Nashville," said Bill Burleigh, Operation Stand Down.

In a packed patriotic gym, veterans find help in their ongoing battle against homelessness, hunger and despair.

"Just the very nature of being a veteran, you can learn to be stubborn, hard headed, but that carries over for most of us. You're also successful in what you do afterward, but also for some people it trips us up," said Burleigh.

Dozens of organizations and hundreds of volunteers are helping the vets by providing food, shelter, clothes, medical and even entertainment from fellow vet Harry James.

"I think we got to clean off our own doorstep before we go into the backyard, and it's just such a pleasure to be here," said James.

The campus of the old Tennessee Prep School looks like a military installation with the green tents for the veterans to stay in.

Operation Stand Down wraps up Sunday. Many vets are expected to then seek addtional help and counseling through the agency's office here in Nashville.

About half of the veterans who attended last year's Operation Stand Down weekend later enrolled in the agency's recovery program.

Nashville's homeless veterans get help, hope at Operation Stand Down event

By Nicole Young • THE TENNESSEAN • October 17, 2009

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Dan Raines used to be homeless.

Three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Raines said he was standing in Riverfront Park, contemplating suicide, when a homeless veteran approached him.

"He fed me and led me to the Nashville Rescue Mission," Raines said.

Raines said he'd lived a transient lifestyle since the previous year. He went to Atlanta to work for a friend. The arrangement quickly soured, and Raines returned home to Nashville, hoping to live temporarily with his mother.

When he got home, things changed.

"She handed me the phone through the front door, and my brother told me she didn't need this stress and that I needed to re-evaluate my life," Raines said. "And that's when I ended up at Riverfront."

It took almost six more years for him to get off the streets for good. A Vietnam veteran, Raines turned to Operation Stand Down.

"I remember a lady at the organization took me to Walmart and spent $600 on me," he said. "At that point, I decided I was going to pay it forward."

Today, Raines has his own apartment, volunteers at Operation Stand Down and donates money to the effort.

This weekend, he's taking his message of hope to the organization's annual outreach event, which kicked off Friday on the grounds of the former Tennessee Preparatory School, just off Murfreesboro Road.

Friday afternoon, almost 350 homeless veterans had come for the medical assistance, food, performances, shelter, movies, legal aid and free haircuts, organizers said.

More are expected to arrive throughout the weekend, said event co-chairman Mary Ross.

"We never know how many we're going to get," she said, "but I think we can expect probably 50 to 100 more, at least."

The event, now in its 17th year, has grown each year, said Operation Stand Down Executive Director Bill Burleigh. Last year, 385 homeless veterans were helped. The year before, there were 325. This year, Burleigh said, more than 400 are expected.

"This event shows these men that we care and we haven't forgotten them," Burleigh said.

"We give them a warm, safe and secure environment away from the streets, and during that time they can check on services, or they can just relax and enjoy the food and the camaraderie."

Home is under bridge

On Friday, homeless Vietnam veteran Milton Jackson was doing just that, chatting with two other vets. In late May, Jackson was laid off from his manufacturing job in Jacksonville, Fla. By June, the Portland, Tenn., native decided to return to Nashville to see if he could find work.

"It was worse up here than it was down there," he said.

Since then, Jackson has lived under a bridge. He recently found out he has prostate cancer.
For the past three months, he's been catheterizing himself.

"The hospital gave me a box of catheters and told me to do it three times a day," he said.

"They told me they can't do anything for me until I can get off the streets, but I can't get off the streets because I don't have any money, and I don't have any money because I can't find any work."

In July, Jackson met Dennis Huey, a volunteer with Operation Stand Down. Together, the men got Jackson into the program, where he is receiving help after being homeless off and on for about 14 years.

"If I keep on fooling around, the cancer is going to get worse," he said. "This is no joke. It's my life."

Concerned with sanitation issues and Jackson's catheters, Huey decided to ask his daughter Ashley, a nurse at Vanderbilt, if she could help the vet. She agreed. "She taught him a better, cleaner way to get the catheters in," Huey said.

Volunteer enthusiastic

As a volunteer with Operation Stand Down, Huey described his work as a calling. He has worked with the homeless at Tent City for about five years.

"I love it," he said. "Every day when I wake up I can't wait until I can go out and hit the streets and help someone. Other than family, what more satisfaction is there?

"There is nothing greater than knowing you helped someone."

For Jackson, Huey's help is overwhelming.

"I'm going to be all right," he said. "But, if it wasn't for him, his daughter and Operation Stand Down, I wouldn't be all right."

OPERATION STAND DOWN BEGINS TODAY: GATES OPEN 7AM TO 2PM!!!

2009-10-16T05:03:00.000-05:00

I'll be putting in 12 hour days for the next three days so will return to the website on Monday, if I'm still standing by then!

Hope to see you at the event; lots to do and we're expecting lots of good folks to show so please, if you can, stop by and join us!

ACTION ALERT: OPERATION STAND DOWN BEGINS IN 24 HOURS

2009-10-15T07:14:00.000-05:00

If you know of a homeless veteran or a veteran who is at risk of losing his housing, please send them to the 17th annual Operation Stand Down event taking place at the Tennessee National Guard's facility (the old Nashville Preparatory School) on Menzler Rd.

Dates: 10-16, 17, 18.
IMPORTANT: ACCESS TIMES
FRIDAY: 9AM TO 2PM (subject to revision today)
SATURDAY: 8AM TO 10AM

Attendees can spend all three days on the grounds or receive a day pass. Food, clothing and lodging will be provided, as will entertainment and services from 45+ local agencies.

We hope you will join us as a guest or a volunteer!!!

"advocates are predicting disaster when the subsidies run out"

2009-10-15T06:38:00.000-05:00

And advocates are almost certainly going to be dead on in their prediction, too, since once those subsidies end, folks will no longer be able to pay those rents. That will most likely cause prolonged evictions, with folks staying in those places and forcing landlords to take them to court to evict - I know I would - which will cost many property owners thousands of dollars and worse, harden their hearts towards folks living at the poverty line.

This penny-wise pound-foolish approach our city officials take has gone on for so long now that I don't think many people remember when we actually addressed problems with real solutions, regardless of the cost. Of course, that was back some years ago when government at least provided the illusion that it was working for those who actually put them into office, rather than for those who filled their campaign chests with special interest dollars and qiud pro quo demands...

(NYT Editorial)
New York City and the Homeless

New Yorkers in and out of government should be concerned by new statistics showing that homelessness has reached an all-time high and that 120,000 men, women and children resorted to the shelter system during the fiscal year that ended this summer. The spike in homelessness is especially troubling because it has arrived before the onset of winter, which typically drives people in off the streets, filling the shelter system to bursting.

The Bloomberg administration says it is fully prepared for the winter rush and has been adjusting all along for a rise in demand for shelter that began two years ago. Even so, the administration should keep looking down the road to determine if new populations are becoming vulnerable and if new policies might be needed to keep endangered families in their homes.

The city attributes most of the rise in homelessness to the economy. It says the problem is not as bad here as in other cities and would be worse if not for refinements in the system, including programs that channel people into permanent homes and that prevent at-risk families from becoming homeless in the first place. The administration points with justifiable pride to the fact that the shelter system is more humane than it was a decade ago.

Advocates for the homeless and the hungry, however, continue to be suspicious of the city’s motives. They argue that the city has driven some vulnerable families to the brink with bureaucratic obstacles that make it difficult for qualified families to receive welfare and food-stamp benefits. A bone of contention between the advocates and the city dates to 2005 when Mayor Michael Bloomberg ended the practice of channeling shelter residents into apartments paid for by the federal Section 8 housing voucher program, which was then under attack by the Bush administration and in disfavor with Congress.

Under Section 8, people keep subsidies as long as they remain income eligible. In 2007, New York created a time-limited program under which working families get support services and rent subsidies that end after two years. The point was to get as many families as possible to stand on their own, but the advocates are predicting disaster when the subsidies run out and are calling for the city to return to the Section 8 strategy. The Bloomberg administration contends that this program has worked well and that only a tiny fraction of the families have reverted to homelessness. But the city should keep a close watch on these families as the subsidies phase out.

Stone Soup Station

Being Foreclosed Upon? STAY IN YOUR HOME ANYWAY!!!

"This is an incredible opportunity, and hundreds of people are going to come to you with great hopes and expectations, and unfortunately you're going to have to turn down 95 percent of them,"

"do what our hearts tell us to do, when our hearts tell us to do it."

"There is a message ringing loud and clear from Tent City. We should all look closer and listen."

Tent City's 'unheard' message is being heard

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier, who ordered Pedreiras removed from his position as a Hillside police officer

Former Hillside cop is sentenced for stealing $15K from state homeless fund

By James Queally/The Star-Ledger

October 29, 2009, 8:26PM

"I know we're not going to agree to limit the population right now,"

Nashville wants to help homeless, then close Tent City camp

"And yet at the end of Dwite's day, he still died a homeless, familyless man,"

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Deaths of homeless inspire soul-searching

One juror sobbed so hard that she had to compose herself before affirming her guilty verdict to the judge.

Posted: Oct. 28, 2009

Emotional jury convicts teen of killing 2 homeless men

"The U.N. Human Rights Council is troubled — deeply, deeply troubled"

“We have about 50 to 100 regulars that we pick up on a daily basis"

Homeless Deaths Rise, and Anchorage Copes

"It's a very dangerous situation"

Channel 4 Video of the 2009 Operation Stand Down Piece...

"a night of terror."

Beating victim testifies in homeless men's murders

Witness says group of teens assaulted him

"Those overruns, caused by unexpected expenses and a decision to keep open two popular golf courses during the winter, only became apparent recently"

"More women — and, for the first time this year, men — are turning to adult entertainment as a way to find lucrative work quickly and legally"

"I see a great attempt to support those individuals with, not just providing subsidies, but also to provide job opportunities and training."

Nashville will spend millions on housing in poor areas

5-year plan targets poor areas, homeless

"The whole thing has a lot to do with my alcoholism and my drinking problem."

Homeless center director in Santa Cruz faces charges of molesting 16 year old in LA

"10 available beds in a system of more than 7,000 for homeless single adults."

Mayor, can you spare a little real change? Homelessness is rising - so change the city's policy

Done for 2009 - See Ya Next Year!

426 Vets Served at the 17th Annual Operation Stand Down

roughly half of the troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are parents, many of whom have served multiple tours.

Military Children in Crisis

OPERATION STAND DOWN DAY 2: GATES OPEN FROM 8AM-10AM ONLY

Help Offered This Weekend To Homeless Veterans

Video Gallery

Help Offered This Weekend To Homeless Veterans

Nashville's homeless veterans get help, hope at Operation Stand Down event

Home is under bridge

Volunteer enthusiastic

OPERATION STAND DOWN BEGINS TODAY: GATES OPEN 7AM TO 2PM!!!

ACTION ALERT: OPERATION STAND DOWN BEGINS IN 24 HOURS

"advocates are predicting disaster when the subsidies run out"